Sample analyzer

ABSTRACT

A sample analyzer is disclosed that includes: a memory configured to store a record of maintenance already performed on the sample analyzer; a display; and a display control configured to control the display to display a first table which chronologically shows the record of maintenance already performed, wherein the first table is assigned a predetermined term, in the table the term is divided into a plurality of sections.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to JapanesePatent Application No. 2006-225498 filed Aug. 22, 2006 and JapanesePatent Application No. 2006-225499 filed Aug. 22, 2006, the entirecontent of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sample analyzer (hereinafter referredto simply as analyzer). More specifically, the present invention relatesto an analyzer for displaying maintenance history or plan. In thespecification, “analyzer” not only includes a device for analyzingsamples such as urine and blood, but also includes a pre-processingdevice for analysis of smear processing device and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a sample analyzer for analyzing samples such as urine and blood,maintenance of the apparatus is carried out according to a set plan(plan containing content and timing of maintenance) to mainly maintain apredetermined analytical precision. In the case of a blood coagulationmeasurement device, maintenance items include “pipette cleaning”,“sample tube discarding” of discarding used cuvette (sample tube)accommodated in a discarding container and emptying the container,“fluid discharging process” of used cleaning fluid, etc., “reagentcondensation removal” of removing condensation attached to the reagentcontainer, and the like. The maintenance includes items which are to becarried out on a regular basis, and items which are carried out on anirregular basis such as replacement of consumable goods, pressureadjustment of air pressure source used in suction and dispensing ofsamples and reagents, and the like.

The maintenance includes items which are carried out by user or serviceperson with the operation of the apparatus in a stopped state such as“sample tube discarding” and “reagent condensation removal”, and itemswhich require the apparatus to be operating such as “pipette cleaning”.In the latter case, cases where the replacement task itself is performedby hand, but where the apparatus must be operated for replacement, suchas the case in “pipette replacement”, are also included. Specifically,in “pipette replacement”, operations of moving the pipette to areplacement position, and returning the pipette to the original positionafter the replacement task by hand is completed are necessary. JapaneseLaid-Open Patent Publication No. 2-150770 discloses an automaticanalyzer that measures the number of operating times and the operatingtime of a mechanism section, stores the measured operating mechanismsection by time, determines, from the stored content, whether or not itis in a period of time suited for maintenance operation such as periodof time in which the analyzer is not used, and issues a maintenancestart signal to perform the maintenance operation when determined asbeing in the period of time suited for maintenance operation.

Conventionally, such maintenance recording is carried out by the userwriting the items performed only by hand and the items performed byoperating the apparatus on a paper (maintenance record field written orattached to an apparatus manual or a copy of the same is often used).Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-211003 and JapaneseLaid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-181744 disclose an analyzer thatstores the date the maintenance task was implemented and displays thedate on the display section.

The maintenance recording paper is often attached to the manual, but inthe conventional recording method, the chances of looking at the manuallowers as one gets familiarized with the operation of the apparatus, andthus may forget to record. The operation of the analyzer and theanalyzing task are performed using a computer such as a personalcomputer, and the implementation of the maintenance involving theoperation of the apparatus is also performed by instruction from aninput means of the computer. In this case, the user instructs theimplementation of the maintenance to the computer, and after checkingthe completion of the maintenance, the user must record the maintenancerecording on the recording paper, which is a troublesome task.Furthermore, the recording paper is often not at hand when the userperforming the analyzing task attempts to check the maintenance history,and thus the checking task becomes inconvenient.

In the automatic analyzer disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication No. 9-211003 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.2002-181744, since only the most recent date of when maintenance wasimplemented is merely displayed when displaying the maintenancerecording, the user is only able to check at one time the most recentimplementation date on the screen even for the maintenance task that isfrequently (e.g., every day, every week) carried out, and thus cannotcheck at one time a plurality of maintenance implemented dates. Althoughit is desired that the person implementing the maintenance is alsorecorded in the maintenance history in terms of maintenance management,the user must input the person implementing the maintenance by hand inorder to record the person implementing the maintenance in the automaticanalyzer disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.9-211003, whereby it is a burden on the user to input the personimplementing the maintenance for every maintenance task, andfurthermore, the user might forget to input.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appendedclaims, and is not affected to any degree by the statements within thissummary. A first sample analyzer embodying features of the presentinvention comprises: a memory configured to store a record ofmaintenance already performed on the sample analyzer; a display; and adisplay control configured to control the display to display a firsttable which chronologically shows the record of maintenance alreadyperformed, wherein the first table is assigned a predetermined term, inthe table the term is divided into a plurality of sections.

A second sample analyzer embodying features of the present inventioncomprises: a memory configured to store a record of maintenance to beperformed on the sample analyzer; a display; and a display controlconfigured to control the display to display a first table whichchronologically shows the record of maintenance to be performed, whereinthe first table is assigned a predetermined term, in the table the termis divided into a plurality of sections.

A third sample analyzer embodying features of the present inventioncomprises: an analyzing mechanism configured to execute an analyzingoperation for analyzing a sample and a maintenance operation; a memoryconfigured to store a record of maintenance of the sample analyzer; aninput section configured to instruct the maintenance operation of theanalyzing mechanism; a display; a maintenance history displaying sectionconfigured to control the display so as to display a table whichchronologically shows a maintenance history, the table being assigned apredetermined term, in the table the term being divided into a pluralityof sections; a maintenance operation executor configured to control theanalyzing mechanism so as to execute the maintenance operation wheninstruction to execute the maintenance operation is made from the inputsection; a record updater configured to control the memory to store arecord of the maintenance executed by the maintenance operationexecuting section; and a display updater configured to update themaintenance history displayed on the display when the maintenanceoperation is executed.

A fourth sample analyzer embodying features of the present inventioncomprises: an analyzing mechanism configured to execute an analyzingoperation for analyzing a sample and an operation involved in amaintenance task; a memory configured to store a record of maintenanceof the sample analyzer; an input section configured to instruct theoperation involved in the maintenance task of the analyzing mechanism; adisplay; a maintenance history displaying section configured to controlthe display so as to display a table which chronologically shows amaintenance history, the table being assigned a predetermined term, inthe table the term being divided into a plurality of sections; anexecutor configured to control the analyzing mechanism to execute theoperation involved in the maintenance task when accepting instruction toexecute the operation involved in the maintenance task from the inputsection; a record updater configured to control the memory to store arecord of the maintenance when the operation involved in the maintenancetask is executed by the executor; and a display updater configured toupdate the maintenance history displayed on the display when theoperation involved in the maintenance task is executed.

A fifth sample analyzer embodying features of the present inventioncomprises: an analyzing mechanism configured to execute an analyzingoperation for analyzing a sample and a maintenance operation; a memoryconfigured to store a record of maintenance of the sample analyzer; aninput section configured to accept input from a user; a login sectionconfigured to authenticate the user based on user information input tothe input section, and determining whether or not to permit the login ofthe user; a maintenance operation executor configured to control theanalyzing mechanism to execute the maintenance operation when acceptinginstruction to execute the maintenance operation from the input section;and a record updater configured to control the memory to storeinformation on the user who is logging in and the record of maintenancein association with each other when the maintenance operation isexecuted.

A sixth sample analyzer embodying features of the present inventioncomprises: an analyzing mechanism configured to execute an analyzingoperation for analyzing a sample and a maintenance operation; a memoryconfigured to store a record of maintenance of the sample analyzer; aninput section configured to accept input from a user; a display; aninstruction figures display section configured to display a plurality ofinstruction figures for respectively instructing a plurality ofmaintenance operations on the display; a maintenance operation executorconfigured to control the analyzing mechanism to execute the maintenanceoperation corresponding to the instruction figure when an inputselecting the instruction figure is provided from the user to the inputsection; and a record updater configured to control the memory to storethe record of maintenance executed by the maintenance operationexecutor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view showing the overallconfiguration of one embodiment of an analyzer of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan explanatory view showing a measurement device and aconveying section in the analyzer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the measurementdevice in the analyzer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control device in the analyzer shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing procedures of a sample analyzing operationof the analyzer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view showing one example of a display screen displayed onthe display section;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a display example of another page of theoperation panel region B in the display screen; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart describing the update of the maintenance history.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments of an analyzer of the present invention will now bedescribed based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view showing the overallconfiguration of one embodiment of an analyzer of the present invention,FIG. 2 is a plane explanatory view showing a measurement device and aconveying section in the analyzer shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a blockdiagram showing a configuration of the measurement device in theanalyzer shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control devicein the analyzer shown in FIG. 1.

Overall Configuration of Analyzer

The overall configuration of the analyzer 1 according to the presentembodiment will be described first. The analyzer 1 according to oneembodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for opticallymeasuring and analyzing the amount and extent of activity of a specificsubstance related to coagulation and fibrinolytic functions of theblood, where plasma is used for the blood sample. In the analyzer 1,optical measurement (main measurement) is performed using coagulationtime method, synthetic substrate method, and immunoturbidmetric method.The coagulation time method used in the present embodiment is ameasurement method of detecting the coagulating process of the sample aschange in transmitted light. The measurement items include PT(prothrombin time), APTT (activated partial thromboplastin time), Fbg(Fibrinogen content), and the like. The measurement items of thesynthetic substrate method include ATIII etc., and the measurement itemsof the immunoturbidmetric method include D dimer, FDP etc.

As shown in FIG. 1, the analyzer 1 is mainly configured by a measurementunit including a measurement device 2, a conveying unit 3 arranged onthe front face side of the measurement device 2, and a control section120 (see FIG. 3) for performing operation control of each mechanism inthe measurement device 2 and the conveying unit 3; and a control device4 serving as a data processing unit electrically connected to themeasurement device 2. In the present embodiment, the conveying unit 3and the measurement device 2 are integrated and form one part of theanalyzer 1, but the conveying unit 3 may be a separate body from theanalyzer 1. For instance, in a large-scale system including a pluralityof analyzers, a mode in which a plurality of analyzers is connected to alarge conveyance line may be adopted without arranging the conveyingunit in each analyzer.

The control device 4 consists of personal computer 401 (PC) and thelike, and includes a control section 4 a, a display section 4 b, and akeyboard 4 c. The control section 4 a has a function of performingoperation control of the measurement device 2 and the conveying unit 3,as well as analyzing optical information of the sample obtained in themeasurement device 2. The control section 4 a consists of CPU, ROM, RAM,and the like. The display section 4 b is arranged to display the resultof analysis obtained in the control section 4 a and to displaymaintenance history of the analyzer 1, as hereinafter described.

The control device 4 functions as an operating section of the user,creates a command from the operation instruction provided from the userthrough the keyboard 4 c, and transmits the command to the controlsection of the measurement unit to enable the measurement unit toperform the operation such as start of analysis. Similar to the controlsection 4 a, the control section of the measurement unit consists ofCPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and controls each mechanism in themeasurement device 2 and the conveying unit 3 according to the commandtransmitted from the control device 4. The control section of themeasurement unit also transmits the measurement data obtained in themeasurement device 2 to the control device 4.

The configuration of the control device 4 will now be described. Asshown in FIG. 4, the control section 4 a is mainly configured by a CPU401 a, a ROM 401 b, a RAM 401 c, a hard disc 401 d, a read-out device401 e, an input/output interface 401 f, a communication interface 401 g,and an image output interface 401 h. The CPU 401 a, the ROM 401 b, theRAM 401 c, the hard disc 401 d, the read-out device 401 e, theinput/output interface 401 f, the communication interface 401 g, and theimage output interface 401 h are connected by bus 401 i.

The CPU 401 a can execute computer programs stored in the ROM 401 b andthe computer programs loaded in the RAM 401 c. The computer 401 servesas the control device 4 when the CPU 401 a executes the applicationprogram 404 a, as hereinafter described. The ROM 401 b is configured bymask ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and the like, and is recorded withcomputer programs to be executed by the CPU 401 a, data used for thesame, and the like.

The RAM 401 c is configured by SRAM, DRAM, and the like. The RAM 401 cis used to read the computer programs recorded on the ROM 401 b and thehard disc 401 d. The RAM 401 c is used as a work region of the CPU 401 awhen executing the computer programs. The hard disc 401 d is installedwith various computer programs to be executed by the CPU 401 a such asoperating system and application program, as well as data used inexecuting the computer program. The application program 404 a forcalculating presence or concentration of the interfering substance inthe present embodiment is also installed in the hard disc 401 d.

The read-out device 401 e is configured by flexible disc drive, CD-ROMdrive, DVD-ROM drive, and the like, and is able to read out computerprograms and data recorded on a portable recording medium 404. Theapplication program 404 a in the present embodiment is stored in theportable recording medium 404, where the computer 401 can read out theapplication program 404 a from the portable recording medium 404, andinstall the application program 404 a in the hard disc 401 d.

The application program 404 a is not only provided by the portablerecording medium 404, but also provided through communication line(wired or wireless) from external devices communicatably connected withthe computer 401 by the communication line. For instance, theapplication program 404 a may be stored in the hard disc of the servercomputer on the Internet, where the computer 401 can access the servercomputer to download the application program 404 a and install theapplication program 404 a in the hard disc 401 d.

Operating system providing graphical interface environment such asWindows (registered trademark) manufactured and sold by US Microsoft Co.is installed in the hard disc 401 d. In the following description, theapplication program 404 a according to the present embodiment is assumedto be operating on the operating system. The input/output interface 401f is configured by serial interface such as USB, IEEE1394, RS-232C;parallel interface such as SCSI, IDE, IEEE1284; analog interface such asD/A converter, A/D converter, and the like. The keyboard 4 c isconnected to the input/output interface 401 f, so that the user caninput data to the computer 401 using the keyboard 4 c.

The communication interface 401 g is, for example, Ethernet (registeredtrademark) interface. The computer 401 transmits and receives data withthe detection mechanism unit 2 using a predetermined communicationprotocol by means of the communication interface 401 g. The image outputinterface 401 h is connected to the display section 4 b configured byLCD, CRT, or the like, and is configured to output the image signalcorresponding to the image data provided from the CPU 401 a to thedisplay section 4 b. The display section 4 b displays the image (screen)according to the input image signal.

The conveying unit 3 has a function of conveying a rack 151 mounted witha plurality of (ten in the present embodiment) test tubes 150accommodating the sample to the suction position 2 a (see FIG. 2) of themeasurement device 2. The conveying unit 3 includes a rack set region 3a for setting a rack 151 stored with the test tube 150 accommodating thenon-processed sample, and a rack accommodating region 3 b foraccommodating the rack 151 stored with the test tube 150 accommodatingthe processed sample.

The measurement device 2 is configured to acquire the opticalinformation on the supplied sample by performing an optical measurementon the sample supplied from the conveying unit 3. In the presentembodiment, the optical measurement is performed on the sample dispensedinto the cuvette 152 (see FIG. 2) of the measurement device 2 from thetest tube 150 mounted on the rack 151 of the conveying unit 3. As shownin FIGS. 1 to 3, the measurement device 2 includes a cuvette supplysection 10, a rotation conveying section 20, a sample dispensing arm 30,a HIL detecting section 40, a lamp section 50, two reagent dispensingarms 60, a cuvette transporting section 70, a detecting section 80, anurgent sample setting section 90, a cuvette discarding section 100, afluid section 110, and a control section 120.

The cuvette supply section 10 is configured to sequentially supply theplurality of cuvettes 152 randomly placed by the user to the rotationconveying section 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the cuvette supply section 10includes a hopper 12 attached to the apparatus main body by way of abracket 11 (see FIG. 1); two induction plates 13 attached below thehopper 12; a supporting table 14 arranged on the lower end of the twoinduction plates 13; and a supply catcher part 15 arranged at apredetermined distance from the supporting table 14. The two inductionplates 13 are arranged parallel to each other at a distance smaller thanthe diameter of the collar part of the cuvette 152 and larger than thediameter of the body part of the cuvette 152. The cuvette 152 suppliedinto the hopper 12 slidably drops towards the supporting table 14 withthe collar part engaged to the upper surface of the two induction plates13. The supporting table 14 has a function of rotatably transporting thecuvette 152 slidably moved onto the induction plates 13 to a positionenabling the supply catcher part 15 to grip the cuvette 152. The supplycatcher part 15 is arranged to supply the cuvette 152 rotatablytransported by the supporting table 14 to the rotation conveying section20.

The rotation conveying section 20 is arranged to transport the cuvette152 supplied from the cuvette supply section 10 and a reagent container(not shown) accommodating the reagent to be added to the sample in thecuvette 152 in the rotating direction. The rotation conveying section 20is configured by a reagent table 21 of circular form, a reagent table 22of circular ring form arranged on the outer side of the reagent table 21of circular form, a secondary dispensing table 23 of circular ring formarranged on the outer side of the reagent table 22 of circular ringform, and a primary dispensing table 24 of circular ring form arrangedon the outer side of the secondary dispensing table 23 of circular ringform, as shown in FIG. 2. The primary dispensing table 24, the secondarydispensing table 23, the reagent table 21, and the reagent table 22respectively rotate in both the clockwise direction and thecounterclockwise direction, and are configured to be rotatableindependent from each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the reagent tables 21 and 22 each has a plurality ofholes 21 a and 22 a formed at a predetermined spacing along thecircumferential direction. The holes 21 a and 22 a of the reagent tables21 and 22 are formed to place the plurality of reagent containers (notshown) accommodating various reagents to be added when preparing ameasurement specimen from the sample. The primary dispensing table 24and the secondary dispensing table 23 each has a plurality of holdingparts 24 a and 23 a arranged at a predetermined spacing in thecircumferential direction. The holding parts 24 a and 23 a are arrangedto hold the cuvette 152 supplied form the cuvette supply section 10. Inthe primary dispensing process, the sample accommodated in the test tube150 of the conveying unit 3 is dispensed into the cuvette 152 held bythe holding part 24 a of the primary dispensing table 24. In thesecondary dispensing process, the sample accommodated in the cuvette 152held by the primary dispensing table 24 is dispensed into the cuvette152 held by the holding part 23 a of the secondary dispensing table 23.A pair of small holes is formed in the holding part 24 a at positionsfacing each other at the side of the holding part 24 a. The pair ofsmall holes is formed to transmit the light emitted from a branchedoptical fiber 58 of the lamp unit 50 to be hereinafter described.

The sample dispensing arm 30 has a function of suctioning the sampleaccommodated in the test tube 150 conveyed to the suction position 2 aby the conveying unit 3, and dispensing the suctioned sample into thecuvette 152 transported by the rotation conveying section 20.

The HIL detecting section 40 is configured to acquire the opticalinformation from the sample to measure the presence and theconcentration of interfering substances (chyle, hemoglobin, andbilirubin) in the sample before the reagent is added. Specifically, thepresence and the concentration of the interfering substance are measuredusing four types of light (405 nm, 575 nm, 660 nm, and 800 nm) out ofthe five types of light (340 nm, 405 nm, 575 nm, 660 nm, and 800 nm)irradiated from the lamp unit 50 to be hereinafter described. The lighthaving a wavelength of 405 nm is light that is absorbed by any one ofchyle, hemoglobin, and bilirubin. That is, the influence of chyle,hemoglobin, and bilirubin contributes to the optical informationmeasured by the light having the wavelength of 405 nm. The light havinga wavelength of 575 nm is light that is not substantially absorbed bybilirubin but is absorbed by chyle and hemoglobin. That is, influence ofchyle and hemoglobin contributes to the optical information measured bythe light having the wavelength of 575 nm. The light having a wavelengthof 660 nm and 800 nm are light that are not substantially absorbed bybilirubin and hemoglobin but are absorbed by chyle. That is, influenceof chyle contributes to the optical information measured by the lighthaving the wavelength of 660 nm and 800 nm. The chyle absorbs the lighthaving the wavelength from 405 nm of low wavelength region up to 800 nmof high wavelength region, and the light having the wavelength of 660 nmis more absorbed by the chyle than the light having the wavelength of800 nm. That is, the influence of the chyle is smaller in the opticalinformation measured by the light having the wavelength of 800 nm thanin the optical information measured by the light having the wavelengthof 660 nm.

The acquisition of the optical information of the sample by the HILdetecting section 40 is performed prior to the optical measurement (mainmeasurement) of the sample by the detecting section 80. The HILdetecting section 40 acquires optical information from the sample in thecuvette 152 held by the holding part 24 a of the primary dispensingtable 24, as shown in FIG. 2.

In the present embodiment, the lamp unit 50 is arranged to emit lightused in the optical measurement performed in the HIL detecting section40 and the detecting section 80, as shown in FIG. 2. That is, one lampunit 50 is configured to be commonly used for the HIL detecting section40 and the detecting section 80. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reagentdispensing arm 60 is arranged to mix the reagent into the sample in thecuvette 152 by dispensing the reagent in the reagent container (notshown) mounted on the rotation conveying section 20 into the cuvette 152held by the rotation conveying section 20. The reagent is thereby addedto the sample which optical measurement by the HIL detecting section 40has terminated, thereby preparing a measurement specimen. The cuvettetransporting section 70 is arranged to transport the cuvette 152 betweenthe rotation conveying section 20 and the detecting section 80. Awarming pipette 61 configuring a warming device equipped with a warmingfunction of the reagent is attached near the distal end of the reagentdispensing arm 60.

The detecting section 80 has a function of warming the measurementspecimen prepared by adding the reagent to the sample, and measuring theoptical information from the measurement specimen. As shown in FIG. 2,the detecting section 80 is configured by a cuvette mounting part 81 anda detector 82 arranged below the cuvette mounting part 81. As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, the urgent sample setting section 90 is arranged toperform sample analyzing process on the urgent sample. The urgent samplesetting section 90 is configured to cut the urgent sample in when thesample analyzing process is being performed on the sample supplied fromthe conveying unit 3. The cuvette discarding section 100 is arranged todiscard the cuvette 152 of the rotation conveying section 20. As shownin FIG. 2, the cuvette discarding section 100 is configured by adiscarding catcher part 101, a discarding hole 102 (see FIG. 1) formedat a predetermined distance from the discarding catcher part 101, and adiscarding box 103 arranged below the discarding hole 102. Thediscarding catcher part 101 is arranged to move the cuvette 152 of therotation conveying section 20 to the discarding box 103 through thediscarding hole 102 (see FIG. 1). The fluid section 110 is arranged tosupply fluid such as cleaning fluid to the nozzle at each dispensing armin the shut down process of the sample analyzer 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control section 120 is connected to the cuvettesupply section 10, the rotation conveying section 20, the sampledispensing arm 30, the HIL detecting section 40, the lamp unit 50, thetwo reagent dispensing arms 60, the cuvette transporting section 70, thedetecting section 80, the urgent sample setting section 90, the cuvettediscarding section 100, and the fluid section 110 so as to be able tocommunicate electric signals. The control section 120 is configured byCPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and controls the operation of eachmechanism described above by having the CPU execute the control programstored in advance in the ROM, whereby the measurement device 2 executesthe sample analyzing operation and the maintenance operation (operationfor maintenance work), to be hereinafter described.

Process of Sample Analysis

The sample analyzing operation using the analyzer described above willnow be briefly described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the proceduresof the sample analyzing operation of the analyzer shown in FIG. 1.First, the powers of the measurement device 2 and the control device 4of the analyzer 1 shown in FIG. 1 are turned ON to carry out the initialsetting of the analyzer 1. The operation to return the mechanism movingthe cuvette 152 and each dispensing arm to the initial position, andinitialization of the software stored in the control section 4 a of thecontrol device 4 are performed (step S1).

The rack 151 mounted with the test tube 150 accommodating the sample(blood plasma) is conveyed by the conveying unit 3 shown in FIG. 2. Therack 151 of the rack set region 3 a is thereby conveyed to the positioncorresponding to the suction position 2 a of the measurement device 2(step S2). In step S3, a predetermined amount of sample is suctionedfrom the test tube 150 by the sample dispensing arm 30. The sampledispensing arm 30 is then moved to above the cuvette 152 held by theprimary dispensing table 24 of the rotation conveying section 20.Thereafter, the sample is discharged from the sample dispensing arm 30into the cuvette 152 of the primary dispensing table 24, and the sampleis batched off into the cuvette 152.

The primary dispensing table 24 is then rotated so that the cuvette 152dispensed with the sample is conveyed to a position where measurementcan be performed by the HIL detecting section 40. Thereby, in step S4,optical measurement on the sample is performed by the HIL detectingsection 40, and the optical information is acquired from the sample. Instep S5, the control section 4 a of the control device 4 calculates theabsorbance of the sample, and also calculates the presence and theconcentration of the interfering substances (chyle, hemoglobin, andbilirubin) in the sample using the data (first optical information) ofthe received digital signal.

Subsequently, in step S6, whether or not the absorbance stored in theRAM 401 c is lower than or equal to a threshold value is determined. Ifthe absorbance calculated from the first optical information measured inthe HIL detecting section 40 exceeds the threshold value in step S6, agreat amount of interference substance is assumed to be contained in thesample, in which case, an accurate analysis cannot be performed and thusthe process is terminated. If the absorbance calculated from the firstoptical information measured in the HIL detecting section 40 is lowerthan or equal to the threshold value in step S6, a predetermined amountof sample is suctioned from the cuvette 152 held by the holding part 24a of the primary dispensing table 24 by the sample dispensing arm 30 instep S7. The predetermined amount of sample is then discharged into eachof the plurality of cuvettes 152 of the secondary dispensing table 23from the sample dispensing arm 30 to perform the secondary dispensingprocess.

In step S8, the quantified sample is incubated for a predetermined time.The incubation time differs depending on the measurement items, but isnormally about one to three minutes. The reagent dispensing arm 60 isthen driven to add the reagent in the reagent container (not shown)mounted on the reagent tables 21 and 22 into the sample in the cuvette152 of the secondary dispensing table 23 in step S9. The measurementspecimen is thereby prepared. The cuvette 152 of the secondarydispensing table 23 accommodating the measurement specimen is then movedto the insertion hole 81 a of the cuvette mounting part 81 of thedetecting section 80 using the cuvette transporting section 70.

Thereafter, in step S10, the optical measurement (main measurement) isperformed on the measurement specimen in the cuvette 152 by the detector82 of the detecting section 80 to acquire the optical information(second optical information) from the measurement specimen. After theanalysis of step S11 by the control section 4 a of the control device 4is finished, the result of analysis obtained in step S11 is displayed onthe display section 4 b of the control device 4 in step S12. The sampleanalyzing operation of the analyzer 1 is terminated in this manner.

Recording and Display of Maintenance History

Various maintenances are performed in order to smoothly operate theanalyzer 1 configured as above, and to realize predeterminedperformances. The maintenance, as mentioned above, includes itemsmanually performed by the user or the service person with the operationof the apparatus in a stopped state such as “sample tube discarding” and“reagent condensation removal”, and items that requires the apparatus tobe operating such as “pipette cleaning”. In the present embodiment, themaintenance record is automatically taken when the latter maintenanceoperation that involves the operation of the analyzer 1 is implemented.Therefore, the trouble for the user to separately take the maintenancerecord is eliminated, the load of the user is alleviated, and themaintenance record is automatically taken, whereby forgetting to recordor recording mistake is prevented. In the present embodiment, themaintenance history is stored in the RAM 401 c (memory section) of thecontrol device 4, and the stored history is displayed on the displaysection 4 b by the instruction of the CPU 401 a serving as a displaycontrol section. In this case, the maintenance history is displayed onthe display section 4 b in a calendar form in which the date isdisplayed in a list, or in a date form depending on the type of items.“Calendar form” is, for example, a form in which the dates of one monthare horizontally displayed in a list in one column, where necessity ofmaintenance implementation are described with signs and characters underthe date, and is convenient in displaying the maintenance history for ashort term span of every day or every week. “Date form” is a form inwhich the implementation of the maintenance is written next to, forexample, the area where the maintenance item is written in a form ofdate (indication of Jul. 26, 2006 or Heisei (one of the Japanesecalendar systems) 18, July 26), and is convenient in displaying themaintenance history of a long term span of every month or every year.

In the present embodiment, the maintenance history is stored in theapparatus itself with which the user carries out the daily analyzingoperation, and the stored maintenance history is displayed on thedisplay section such as display, whereby the operation of the apparatusand the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed in associationwith each other. Therefore, the maintenance is reliably performed moreeasily, and analysis of high accuracy can be performed while maintainingthe reliability of the apparatus. The maintenance history can bedisplayed by clicking the icon “maintenance” in the menu screendisplayed on the display section 4 b when the control device 4 of theanalyzer 1 is started up, or clicking the icon “maintenance” in the toolbar.

FIG. 6 is a view showing one example of such display screen. In FIG. 6,A is a maintenance plan/history display region for displaying themaintenance plan and history by the user, and B is an operation panelregion for displaying the operation buttons associated with themaintenance screen. Thus, the maintenance operation can be instructedwhile checking the maintenance history by simultaneously displaying theoperation screen for operating the maintenance operation and the historyscreen for displaying the maintenance history, whereby only thenecessary maintenance is reliably implemented.

The maintenance plan/history display region A is divided into fourdisplay regions according to the type of maintenance. That is, themaintenance plan/history display region A is divided into “dailymaintenance item” normally performed for every apparatus operating day,“weekly maintenance item” performed every week, “monthly maintenanceitem” performed every month, and “maintenance item/replacement of supplypart when required” performed as necessary.

The “daily maintenance item” and the “weekly maintenance item” have themaintenance history recorded in the calendar form as described above.The “daily maintenance item” includes each items of “pipette cleaning”of cleaning the pipette that suctions and dispenses samples and reagents(cleaning in which the extent of cleaning is intensified, and performedseparate from the cleaning performed in time of measurement of eachsample); “sample tube discarding” of discarding the used cuvette (sampletube) accommodated in the discarding container and emptying thecontainer; “fluid discharging process” of used cleaning fluid and thelike; “reagent condensation removal” of removing the condensationattached to the reagent container cooled to about 110° C. to enhance thestorage property of the reagent; and “backflow preventing chamber check”of checking with eyes whether fluid is retained in the chamberpreventing backflow of the fluid to the compressor, and discarding thefluid if retained. The “weekly maintenance item” includes “flow pathcleaning” of cleaning the entire flow path of the fluid such as the tubeconnected to the pipette.

In the “daily maintenance item”, the implementation state mark isdisplayed in a region (cell) corresponding to each date, where a whitecircle (∘) mark is provided every day to each item in the presentembodiment. When the maintenance is implemented, the mark is changed toa black circle (●) mark. In the “weekly maintenance item”, ∘ is given toa region of every seventh day from the previous implemented date, where“●” mark is given to the cell corresponding to the implemented date whenthe maintenance is implemented, and the positions of the “∘” mark areupdated with the relevant implemented date as the reference. Thenecessary maintenance is reliably implemented by displaying themaintenance plan. That is, the memory section further memorizes themaintenance plan, and the display control section is configured tofurther display the maintenance plan on the display section. The user isthus able to easily check the maintenance plan in the daily analyzingoperation. Therefore, the timing of implementing the maintenance willnot be missed, the maintenance task is performed at an appropriatetiming, and analysis of high accuracy is performed while maintaining thereliability of the apparatus. In the display of the maintenance historyof calendar form, the display control section displays, incorrespondence to the date, the first mark “●” indicating that themaintenance task has been implemented if the maintenance task isimplemented in the region corresponding to the relevant date, anddisplays the second mark “∘” indicating that the maintenance task hasnot been implemented if the maintenance task has not been implemented inthe relevant region. The user is thus able to easily check visuallywhether or not the maintenance task has been implemented.

Since the “daily maintenance item” and the “weekly maintenance item”have the maintenance history displayed in calendar form, the maintenancehistory can be recognized at one view, and the items in which themaintenance has not been implemented can be intuitively recognized. Themaintenance thus is reliably implemented. In other words, themaintenance history is displayed on the display section such that dateor week is displayed in a list and the implementation state of themaintenance is displayed in correspondence to each date or week, wherethe display of the maintenance history is updated when the maintenanceoperation is implemented, and the implemented date of the maintenancetask that is frequently implemented (e.g., every day or every week) canbe checked at once. The “monthly maintenance item” includes “flow pathcleaning”, which is the maintenance basically the same as the “flow pathcleaning” performed week after week. However, the cleaning sites and thecleaning time differ, and a more thorough cleaning is performed than thecleaning performed week after week.

The “maintenance item/replacement of supply part when required” includes“lamp replacement” of replacing the lamp used as the light source in themeasurement unit, “piercer replacement” of replacing the piercer thatperforates through a cap when suctioning the sample from the containersealed by the rubber cap, “piercer wiping” of removing dirt from thepiercer, “pressure adjustment” of adjusting the pressure of air pressuresource (compressor) used in suctioning and dispensing the sample and thelike, “water drainage” of draining the water of the flow path inside theapparatus when the apparatus is not used over a long period of time orwhen changing the installing location of the apparatus, and “watersupply” of supplying water into the flow path inside the apparatus. Ineach item of the “maintenance item/replacement of supply part whenrequired”, the maintenance history when required is displayed up to thepast three times, and the next implementation planned date and theoperation state are displayed. Regarding the components in which thereplacement timing can be predicted from the operating time or thenumber of operating times, the maintenance planned date can bepredicted. Such prediction is made by the CPU 401 a that functions as aplan date predicting section, where the date can be calculated(predicted) based on the maximum number of operations (time) and thecurrent number of operations (time) of the components as well as theelapsed time from the previous maintenance implemented date. In thepresent embodiment, the implementation planned dates of lamp replacementand piercer replacement are predicted and displayed. Since thereplacement timing of the lamp and the piercer which are consumablegoods can be predicted, such consumable goods can be acquired or stockedin advance. Consequently, the operation of the apparatus is preventedfrom being interrupted due to part shortage, or the like.

The “monthly maintenance item” and the “maintenance item/replacement ofsupply part when required” are displayed in date form as opposed to the“daily maintenance item” and the “weekly maintenance item” which aredisplayed in calendar form. In the case of maintenances that areperformed on an irregular base such as replacement of consumable goods,the interval of maintenance (replacement task) implementation timing isgenerally long or in units of month or in units of year, and thus thedisplay becomes small or extends over a plurality of screens and becomesdifficult to see if the history thereof is displayed in calendar form,whereas the necessary information can be easily obtained by beingdisplayed in date form. Thus, the display corresponding to the type ofmaintenance (regular base or irregular base, short term span or longterm span) is performed in the present embodiment.

Various operation buttons related to maintenance are displayed in theoperation panel region B, where the displayed operation, or preparationor auxiliary operation for the operation, is automatically executed byclicking the relevant button. “Preparation or auxiliary operation forthe operation” is, in the case of “pipette replacement”, the operation(preparation operation) of moving the pipette to the replacementposition and returning the pipette to the original position after thereplacement task by hand is completed; and in the case of “lampreplacement”, it is the operation (auxiliary operation) of calibratingthe lamp after the lamp replacement is performed by hand. That is,“preparation or auxiliary operation for the operation” refers to theoperation (operation involved in maintenance task) for the user toperform the maintenance task. In the present embodiment, the maintenancerecord is automatically made even when such preparation or auxiliaryoperation is executed assuming that the maintenance related to theoperation is executed. In the present specification, the concept of“maintenance operation” not only includes the operation of automaticallyperforming all the steps of the maintenance task as in “flow pathcleaning” by the analyzer 1, but also includes the “preparation orauxiliary operation for the operation” described above.

In FIG. 6, C is a display switch button of the operation panel, wherethe operation panel of the next page is displayed can be clicking theswitch button. The “current page/total number of pages” is displayedbelow the display switch button C. As shown in FIG. 7, each operationbutton of “pressure adjustment”, “water supply”, and “water drainage”are displayed in the operation panel of the next page. Among theillustrated operation buttons, a check dialogue (not shown) is displayedwith respect to the button associated with “cleaning” when the button isclicked, where cleaning complying with a predetermined sequence startswhen “execute” button is clicked in the check dialogue. After “cleaning”is completed, the “●” mark indicating the implementation is completed isautomatically given to the cell. In the present embodiment, aconfiguration of arranging the operation buttons for executing themaintenance operations in the operation panel region B or the operationscreen, and having the user make the instruction of the maintenanceoperation by clicking the corresponding operation button has beendescribed, but other configurations may be adopted as long as it is ameans for accepting the instruction of the maintenance operation fromthe user. For instance, as a means for accepting the instruction of themaintenance operation, a figure (image) different from the button may bedisplayed in the operation screen as an icon designed, in frame format,of the content of the maintenance operation, and the user may performthe operation of selecting the figure, that is, clicking the mouse oroperating the keyboard so that the start instruction of the maintenanceoperation from the user is accepted. The user thus can give theinstruction of the maintenance operation by simply selecting the figurecorresponding to the desired maintenance item of the instruction figuredisplayed in the operation screen.

The automatic update of the maintenance history associated with themaintenance operation will now be described according to the flowchartof FIG. 8. In the figure, the left half shows the control in thepersonal computer 401 and the right half shows the control in thecontrol section of the measurement unit.

In step S21, the personal computer (PC) 401 determines whether or notlogin information such as user name and password is input by the user,and the authentication of the login is performed in step S22 if thepredetermined login information is input. In step S23, determination ismade on whether or not the authentication is successful, where theoperation is terminated if authentication fails, and the menu screen isdisplayed in subsequent step S24 if authentication is successful. Whenthe user instructs the display of maintenance management screen (e.g.,click a predetermined icon) in the menu screen, the maintenancehistory/plan memorized in the memory means is read (step S26), and themaintenance history/plan is displayed on the maintenance managementscreen (step S27). In step S28, the personal computer (PC) 401 thendetermines whether or not the instruction of maintenance operation bythe operation of the operation button in the operation panel region B isaccepted. If the instruction of maintenance operation is accepted, thepersonal computer 401 transmits a maintenance operation start command tothe control section of the measurement unit in step S29.

In step S30, the control section of the measurement unit determineswhether or not the maintenance operation start command is received. Ifdetermined that the command is received, the control section of themeasurement unit carries out the control such that the correspondingmechanism performs the maintenance operation according to thepredetermined sequence in step S31.

In step S32, the control section of the measurement unit determineswhether or not error occurred during the maintenance operation, wherethe error information is transmitted to the personal computer (PC) 401in step S33 if error occurred. If error did not occur, judgment is madewhether or not the predetermined maintenance operation is completed instep S34, where the process returns to step S31 if not completed, andthe control of the maintenance operation is continued, and theinformation of the maintenance operation completion is transmitted tothe personal computer (PC) 401 in step S35 if the maintenance operationis completed.

After transmitting the maintenance operation start command to thecontrol section of the measurement unit in step S29, the personalcomputer (PC) 401 makes a judgment on whether or not the errorinformation is received from the control section of the measurement unitin step S36. If the error information is received, the error display isperformed in step S37, and if the error information is not received,judgment is made on whether or not the information of maintenanceoperation completion is received in step S38. The process returns tostep S36 if the information of the maintenance operation completion isnot received, and the update of the maintenance history is performed instep S39 if the information of maintenance operation completion isreceived. Specifically, the maintenance item and date are memorized inthe memory section in association with the user name who has logged in,and the “∘” mark of the relevant cell in the maintenance managementscreen is changed to “●” indicating the completion of theimplementation.

In the present embodiment, an example of determining whether or not thepersonal computer (PC) 401 has accepted the instruction of themaintenance operation by the operation of the operation button in theoperation panel region B in step S28 has been described, but is notlimited thereto, and when the user manually implements the maintenancetask that is not dependent on the operation of the operation button, theinformation on the implementation of the task may be input by hand. Inthis case, the input of the implementation information of themaintenance task is determined by the personal computer 401, and theprocesses from step S39 on are executed if determined that there isinput.

In the present embodiment, the person in charge of the maintenance maybe automatically recorded from the login name. The responsibility systemor the management system of the maintenance of the analyzer is therebyclarified. The name of the person in charge is stored in the RAM 401 cof the control device 4 that functions as the recording unit.Preferably, the name of the person in charge is not displayed on thedisplay screen for the sake of simplifying the display, and is outputonly when printing the maintenance history. Thus, since the informationon the login user and the maintenance recording are automatically storedin the memory section in association with each other when themaintenance operation of the analyzer is executed, the trouble for theuser to separately take the maintenance record is eliminated, and theuser who has implemented the maintenance task can be specified byreferencing the maintenance record. The management of the information onthe maintenance is more appropriately performed by including the personimplementing the task in the maintenance record.

There are some maintenance activities, such as “sample tube discarding”and “reagent condensation removal,” which can be manually initiated by auser or a service person while the analyzer is not operational. Forthese manually initiated maintenance activities, the record ofmaintenance can be entered manually. Hence, the record of manuallyinitiated maintenance activities can be displayed along with the recordof other maintenance activities, whereby the overall review of theentire maintenance record become possible. Please note that for themaintenance activities which are initiated by instructions from thepersonal computer (PC) 401, the user or the service person cannot enterthe record of maintenance manually. The mistake is thereby prevented inwhich a record of maintenance is entered manually for a maintenanceactivity which has not yet been performed.

Furthermore, the prohibition of manual input can be permitted when thelogin name defined in advance is input. For instance, when the apparatusis in failure, the maintenance operation by a user can beextraordinarily difficult. In such case, the service person may have theapparatus execute the maintenance. In this case, when the service personinputs the predetermined login name to operate the apparatus, theprohibition of manual input is permitted to allow input manually, sothat the maintenance initiated by the service person can be recorded.

The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and should not beconstrued as being restrictive. The scope of the invention is defined bythe appended claims rather than by the description of the embodiments,and all changes that fall within meets and bounds of the claims, orequivalence of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to beembraced by the claims.

1. A sample analyzer comprising: a memory configured to store a recordof maintenance already performed on the sample analyzer; a display; anda display control configured to control the display to display a firsttable which chronologically shows the record of maintenance alreadyperformed, wherein the first table is assigned a predetermined term, inthe table the term is divided into a plurality of sections.
 2. Thesample analyzer according to claim 1, wherein the memory is furtherconfigured to store a record of maintenance to be performed, and thefirst table chronologically shows the record of maintenance to beperformed.
 3. The sample analyzer according to claim 2, wherein thedisplay control is configured to control the display to display, in oneof the plurality of sections, a first mark indicating that a maintenancetask was performed in the period represented by the one of the pluralityof sections, or a second mark indicating that a maintenance task has notperformed in the period represented by the one of the plurality ofsections.
 4. The sample analyzer according to claim 1, wherein themaintenance is performed on a regular basis.
 5. The sample analyzeraccording to claim 1, wherein the display control is configured tocontrol the display to further display a second table showing a recordof maintenance already performed in a display form different from thatof the first table.
 6. The sample analyzer according to claim 5, whereinthe display control is configured to control the display to display, inthe second table, a date on which a maintenance task was performed, thedate is indicated with characters, and the maintenance task is to beperformed on an irregular basis.
 7. The sample analyzer according toclaim 1, further comprising an input section configured to accept inputfrom a user, wherein the memory stores, when input with date on which amaintenance task was performed to the input section, informationindicating that the maintenance task was performed on the date, andwherein the display control updates the record of maintenance alreadyperformed displayed on the display, based on the information stored inthe memory.
 8. The sample analyzer according to claim 7, furthercomprising a login section configured to authenticate a user based onuser information input to the input section, and configured to determinewhether or not to permit login of the user, wherein the memory storesinformation on the user who is logging in and input maintenance data aswell as date data in correspondence to each other.
 9. The sampleanalyzer according to claim 1, wherein the display control is configuredto control the display to display the record of maintenance alreadyperformed by displaying date or week in a list and maintenanceimplementation state in correspondence to each date or week.
 10. Asample analyzer comprising: a memory configured to store a record ofmaintenance to be performed on the sample analyzer; a display; and adisplay control configured to control the display to display a firsttable which chronologically shows the record of maintenance to beperformed, wherein the first table is assigned a predetermined term, inthe table the term is divided into a plurality of sections.
 11. Thesample analyzer according to claim 10, wherein the maintenance isperformed on a regular basis.
 12. The sample analyzer according to claim10, wherein the display control is configured to control the display todisplay a second table showing a record of maintenance to be performedin a display form different from that of the first table.
 13. The sampleanalyzer according to claim 12, wherein the display control isconfigured to control the display to display a planned date on which amaintenance task is to be performed, the planned date is indicated withcharacters, and the maintenance task is to be performed on an irregularbasis.
 14. The sample analyzer according to claim 10, further comprisinga planned date predicting section configured to predict a maintenanceplanned date on which a maintenance task is to be performed.
 15. Thesample analyzer according to claim 14, wherein the memory is furtherconfigured to store a record of maintenance already performed; and theplanned date predicting section predicts the maintenance planned datebased on the record of maintenance already performed stored in thememory.
 16. A sample analyzer comprising: an analyzing mechanismconfigured to execute an analyzing operation for analyzing a sample anda maintenance operation; a memory configured to store a record ofmaintenance of the sample analyzer; an input section configured toinstruct the maintenance operation of the analyzing mechanism; adisplay; a maintenance history displaying section configured to controlthe display so as to display a table which chronologically shows amaintenance history, the table being assigned a predetermined term, inthe table the term being divided into a plurality of sections; amaintenance operation executor configured to control the analyzingmechanism so as to execute the maintenance operation when instruction toexecute the maintenance operation is made from the input section; arecord updater configured to control the memory to store a record of themaintenance executed by the maintenance operation executing section; anda display updater configured to update the maintenance history displayedon the display when the maintenance operation is executed.
 17. Thesample analyzer according to claim 16, wherein the maintenance historydisplaying section controls the display section simultaneously todisplay an operation screen for operating the maintenance operation anda history screen for displaying the maintenance history.
 18. The sampleanalyzer according to claim 17, wherein the maintenance history displaysection displays, on the operation screen, a plurality of instructionfigures for respectively instructing a plurality of maintenanceoperations, and wherein the maintenance operation executer controls theanalyzing mechanism to execute the maintenance operation correspondingto the instruction figure when an input selecting the instruction figureis made to the input section from a user.
 19. The sample analyzeraccording to claim 17, wherein the memory is further configured to storea maintenance plan, and the maintenance history displaying sectiondisplays the maintenance plan with maintenance history on the historyscreen.
 20. The sample analyzer according to claim 16, wherein the inputsection is configured to accept input of the record of maintenance, andthe memory stores the record of maintenance input by hand.
 21. Thesample analyzer according to claim 20, wherein the input of themaintenance record by hand is prohibited for maintenance in which theanalyzing mechanism executes the maintenance operation by instructionfrom the input section.
 22. The sample analyzer according to claim 21,wherein prohibition of input by hand is lifted when login name definedin advance is input.
 23. The sample analyzer according to claim 16,wherein the maintenance history displaying section controls the displaysection to display the maintenance history so as to display date or weekin a list and maintenance implementation state in correspondence to eachdate or week.
 24. A sample analyzer comprising: an analyzing mechanismconfigured to execute an analyzing operation for analyzing a sample andan operation involved in a maintenance task; a memory configured tostore a record of maintenance of the sample analyzer; an input sectionconfigured to instruct the operation involved in the maintenance task ofthe analyzing mechanism; a display; a maintenance history displayingsection configured to control the display so as to display a table whichchronologically shows a maintenance history, the table being assigned apredetermined term, in the table the term being divided into a pluralityof sections; an executor configured to control the analyzing mechanismto execute the operation involved in the maintenance task when acceptinginstruction to execute the operation involved in the maintenance taskfrom the input section; a record updater configured to control thememory to store a record of the maintenance when the operation involvedin the maintenance task is executed by the executor; and a displayupdater configured to update the maintenance history displayed on thedisplay when the operation involved in the maintenance task is executed.25. A sample analyzer comprising: an analyzing mechanism configured toexecute an analyzing operation for analyzing a sample and a maintenanceoperation; a memory configured to store a record of maintenance of thesample analyzer; an input section configured to accept input from auser; a login section configured to authenticate the user based on userinformation input to the input section, and determining whether or notto permit the login of the user; a maintenance operation executorconfigured to control the analyzing mechanism to execute the maintenanceoperation when accepting instruction to execute the maintenanceoperation from the input section; and a record updater configured tocontrol the memory to store information on the user who is logging inand the record of maintenance in association with each other when themaintenance operation is executed.
 26. A sample analyzer comprising: ananalyzing mechanism configured to execute an analyzing operation foranalyzing a sample and a maintenance operation; a memory configured tostore a record of maintenance of the sample analyzer; an input sectionconfigured to accept input from a user; a display; an instructionfigures display section configured to display a plurality of instructionfigures for respectively instructing a plurality of maintenanceoperations on the display; a maintenance operation executor configuredto control the analyzing mechanism to execute the maintenance operationcorresponding to the instruction figure when an input selecting theinstruction figure is provided from the user to the input section; and arecord updater configured to control the memory to store the record ofmaintenance executed by the maintenance operation executor.